Who wrote in the diary and why: Delhi Crime Branch officials begin investigation in ghastly Burari deaths

The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police, which is investigating the deaths of 11 members of a family found dead under mysterious circumstances in the city’s Burari area on Sunday, said it is analysing the handwriting in the diary that contained notes pointing to possible links to a religious practice. ANI, on Monday, quoted crime branch sources as saying that they would investigate why the notes were written in the diary and the source of the information. Since finding the diary, the police suspects that the family had possible links to an occult for them to “attain salvation”. Investigators are now looking into the family’s links with godmen or occult practitioners.

Among the 11 family members found dead  were two minor boys, both 15 years old. Ten of them were found hanging blindfolded from an iron-mesh in the ceiling for ventilation, while the body of a 77-year-old woman was found on the floor in another room of the house. The police said she had been strangulated. According to CCTV camera footage, a delivery man dropped off food at the family’s house in Burari at 10.40 pm on Saturday. He was the last person to see the family before their neighbours reported them dead on Sunday morning, ANI reported. Investigators are scrutinising the call data records of the family members and their internet search history, as well. The police said they will also interrogate the family of the man who was engaged to marry one of the deceased. [caption id=“attachment_4642781” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] An ambulance in Delhi carries away the bodies of 11 members of a family who were found hanging from an iron grill in a house in Burari. PTI.[/caption] Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar said the diary contained “exhaustive notes” on how their “hands and legs are to be tied”, similar to how the bodies were found. Another investigator said that the notes talk about how “all problems would ease out and they would attain salvation” if they followed these rituals. “All the notes talk about reaching the end and gaining peace,” the officer added. The family ran a grocery store, besides a plywood business. Their neighbour found them dead in the house after he found the shop closed at 7 am — unusual for the family — and went upstairs to their house. The police said they were waiting for the autopsy reports, which will make it clear whether one of the family members killed the rest and then committed suicide or whether the deaths were the result of a suicide pact. “During investigation, we found that the house was neither ransacked, nor were any valuables missing,” Additional Commissioner of Police Kumar was quoted as saying by The Indian Express . “The women had their gold jewellery intact, the cellphones were also not missing.” Police Commissioner of Delhi Amulya Patnaik said they had registered an FIR under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at the Burari Police Station, and that the crime branch was “investigating he case from all angles”.